(This column originally appeared on the Huffington Post blog on December 7, 2015)
In late October, Quebec Economy Minister Jacques Daoust announced that the Quebec government would be “investing” $1.3 billion in taxpayer money in Bombardier’s beleaguered C Series aircraft line, and promptly turned around to prod the new Trudeau government in Ottawa to pony up a similar contribution. In response, the new prime minister insisted that any help for Bombardier would not be based on “emotion or politics or symbols” but rather on a “strong business case.”